The 18-year-old who was allegedly high on Oxycontin and Xanax when she drove a passenger van into a Hempstead, Long Island home, fatally striking the home's owner, was hysterical when taken out of the police station yesterday. Kayla Gerdes screamed to reporters, "No, I didn't [purposely aim for her.] Listen, stop -- listen, it was an accident! Please leave me, alone it was a mistake! Stop it was a mistake! No, I was on prescription drugs, it was a mistake! Stop! Leave me alone!" (Video below.) But she reportedly told police investigators, "The thing that made me feel not so bad was she was old," referring to victim Rebecca Twine-Wright, "I mean, 70 years is a long time to live."
Twine-Wright, a 69-year-old retired doctor, had been gardening when a van allegedly driven by Gerdes jumped a curb and barreled into her. Nassau County police say that Gerdes, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter, DWI, and driving without a license, was initially a passenger in the van, but thought the driver, Brian Steele, was going too slow, so they switched places. (Gerdes said she was in a rush to make a court appearance about the jewelry she stole from her mother to fund her drug habit.) After the crash, a witness says the pair were heard arguing, with Steele saying, "You did it again You crashed my car only two weeks ago!"
Gerdes's lawyer said that the teen was released early from a 28-day drug rehabilitation program, because her mother's insurance would only cover seven days. And Gerdes also told reporters, "The car went out of control. I was pressing the brake and it wouldn't go!" She pleaded not guilty and is being held on $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash bail.
